Pointing to similarities they see between the latest string of bombings against Shi’ite targets and a campaign by the “al-Qaeda in Iraq” organization in 2006, top security officials in Iraq are concerned that the bombings signal the start of a new effort by the group to destablize the nation.
“You will see them attempting to start the sectarian violence again,” one top ranking Iraqi army official predicted. Indeed, while the Sunni group hasn’t claimed credit for the attacks, they have almost exclusively targeted Shi’ite neighborhoods and religious sites, and today’s attacks targeted sites popular with followers of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militia also engaged in sectarian clashes.
The Al-Qaeda in Iraq group was formed following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, with the expressed goal of driving the occupation forces from the nation. The group has pledged allegiance to the al-Qaeda network, and unlike other Sunni militias aimed at clashing over neighborhoods has predominantly relied on suicide bombings against key targets.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the group for a similar string of attacks in April, and claimed it was coordinating the attacks with the remnants of the Ba’athist regime. He also claimed the group has been infiltrating the US-backed Awakening Council, a Sunni militia which has often been at odds with the Shi’ite-led government.
In the first Zarqawi communiqué it was claimed that they were trying to start a “civil war” to get the occupiers to stay because they were ‘winning’ and going to leave soon. It was obviously absurd, just as the ensuing claims that the bombs were targeting mosques and markets that only one religious group used. Most of the marriages in Baghdad are mixed and both sects use the same mosques.
The truth is that “Al-Qaeda in Iraq” was created by the occupation to punish Arab civilians for supporting the resistance.
It is difficult to determine how much has been spent on the Zarqawi campaign, which began two years ago and is believed to be ongoing. U.S. propaganda efforts in Iraq in 2004 cost $24 million, but that included extensive building of offices and residences for troops involved, as well as radio broadcasts and distribution of thousands of leaflets with Zarqawi's face on them, said the officer speaking on background.
The Zarqawi campaign is discussed in several of the internal military documents. "Villainize Zarqawi/leverage xenophobia response," one U.S. military briefing from 2004 stated. It listed three methods: "Media operations," "Special Ops (626)" (a reference to Task Force 626, an elite U.S. military unit assigned primarily to hunt in Iraq for senior officials in Hussein's government) and "PSYOP," the U.S. military term for propaganda work.
One internal briefing, produced by the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq, said that Kimmitt had concluded that, "The Zarqawi PSYOP program is the most successful information campaign to date."
In the first Zarqawi communiqué it was claimed that they were trying to start a “civil war” to get the occupiers to stay because they were ‘winning’ and going to leave soon. It was obviously absurd, just as the ensuing claims that the bombs were targeting mosques and markets that only one religious group used. Most of the marriages in Baghdad are mixed and both sects use the same mosques.
The truth is that “Al-Qaeda in Iraq” was created by the occupation to punish Arab civilians for supporting the resistance.
It is difficult to determine how much has been spent on the Zarqawi campaign, which began two years ago and is believed to be ongoing. U.S. propaganda efforts in Iraq in 2004 cost $24 million, but that included extensive building of offices and residences for troops involved, as well as radio broadcasts and distribution of thousands of leaflets with Zarqawi's face on them, said the officer speaking on background.
The Zarqawi campaign is discussed in several of the internal military documents. "Villainize Zarqawi/leverage xenophobia response," one U.S. military briefing from 2004 stated. It listed three methods: "Media operations," "Special Ops (626)" (a reference to Task Force 626, an elite U.S. military unit assigned primarily to hunt in Iraq for senior officials in Hussein's government) and "PSYOP," the U.S. military term for propaganda work.
One internal briefing, produced by the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq, said that Kimmitt had concluded that, "The Zarqawi PSYOP program is the most successful information campaign to date."